14 Summer & Fall Book Releases I'm Excited About

Happy Tuesday, fellow bookworms! The Top Ten Tuesday topic (hosted by The Broke and the Bookish) is a fun one this week: our most anticipated book releases for the second half of the year. One of my bibliophile hobbies is being incessantly on the lookout for more books to add to my to-read list (why?!?!) and I soak up every pre-pub list, BookPage, Goodreads newsletters and, when I worked at the library before we moved, every Library Journal and publisher catalog. There are lots of exciting books coming out from now to December, and below are the ones I'm most looking forward to.

First Comes Love by Emily Giffin

June 28

Adapted from Goodreads: Growing up, Josie and Meredith Garland shared a loving, if sometimes contentious, relationship. When tragedy strikes their family, their different responses to the event splinter their delicate bond. Fifteen years later, Josie and Meredith are in their late thirties, following very different paths. As the anniversary of their tragedy looms and painful secrets from the past begin to surface, Josie and Meredith must not only confront the issues that divide them, but also come to terms with their own choices. In their journey toward understanding and forgiveness, both sisters discover they need each other more than they knew... and that in the recipe for true happiness, love always comes first.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I don't read a ton of stuff in the women's fiction genre but I've read all of Emily Giffin's books besides "Baby Proof" (I'll get to it one day; I actually own it, which basically means it's destined to languish on a shelf for years) and I've enjoyed them all to varying degrees. Her last book, "The One and Only," wasn't quite as good as the others, so I'm hoping she's back up to her usual level of awesome with "First Comes Love."

Saga Volume 6 by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan

July 5

Adapted from Goodreads: After a dramatic time jump, Hazel begins the most exciting adventure of her life: kindergarten. Meanwhile, her star-crossed family learns hard lessons of their own.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I started reading "Saga" toward the end of last year and now that I'm all caught up I can't wait for the next installment to come out! I enjoyed the earlier issues more than the later ones, but I'm still totally into the story. And of course there's always Lying Cat!

The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

July 5

Adapted from Goodreads: A debut literary thriller from an incredible new voice. What do you do when the man who gave you everything turns out to be a killer? Everything Elka knows of the world she learned from the man she calls Trapper, the solitary hunter who took her under his wing when she was just seven years old. But when Elka sees the Wanted poster in town, her simple existence is shattered. Trapper is wanted for murder. There will be a reckoning, one that will push friendships to the limit and force Elka to confront the dark memories of her past.

Why I'm looking forward to it: Well, this is a it of a cheat because I just finished my advance-read copy of "The Wolf Road" last night. But it was so original and so distinctive and so good! I highly recommend it!

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters

July 5

Adapted from Goodreads: It is the present-day, and the world is as we know it: smartphones, social networking and Happy Meals. Save for one thing: the Civil War never occurred. A gifted young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the U.S. Marshall Service. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right -- with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself. "Underground Airlines" is a ground-breaking novel, a wickedly imaginative thriller, and a story of an America that is more like our own than we'd like to believe.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I'd never heard of Ben H. Winters until I discovered this book, but I am absolutely intrigued. The story sounds like it'll be an addicting page-turner, and it's always interesting to delve into an alternate (darker) version of our modern-day world.

The Last One by Alexandra Oliva

July 12

Adapted from Goodreads: For readers of "Station Eleven" and "The Passage" comes a dazzling and unsettling novel of psychological suspense. Survival is the name of the game, as the line blurs between reality TV and reality itself -- and one woman’s mind and body are pushed to the limit.

Why I'm looking forward to it: "Station Eleven" and "The Passage" don't have a whole heck of a lot in common except they're both post-apocalyptic tales that I awarded 5-stars. Hopefully "The Last One" will join their ranks! I have an ARC of this book that I'm planning to read soon!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

July 31

Adapted from Goodreads: It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children. While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I've been dreaming of a literary dive back into the world of Harry Potter since the day I read the last lines of book 7. I never actually expected it to happen, but here it is! The original HP tale is an epic good vs. evil battle, but with Voldemort defeated I'm curious who the new villain or antagonist will be.

Curious Minds (Knight and Moony #1) by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

August 16

Adapted from Goodreads: Emerson Knight is introverted, eccentric, and has little to no sense of social etiquette. Good thing he’s also brilliant, rich, and (some people might say) handsome, or he’d probably be homeless. Riley Moon has just graduated from Harvard Business and Harvard Law. Her aggressive Texas spitfire attitude has helped her land her dream job as a junior analyst with mega-bank Blane-Grunwald. At least Riley Moon thought it was her dream job, until she is given her first assignment: babysitting Emerson Knight. What starts off as an inquiry about missing bank funds in the Knight account leads to inquiries about a missing man, missing gold, and a life-and-death race across the country.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I'll continue to plow through the Stephanie Plum books til the end, despite their played-out and repetitive nature, and I'll keep waiting for Ms. Evanovich to pen the next book in the Wicked series, which I do really like but which seem to be released pretty sporadically. I haven't particularly cared for Janet's other endeavors, but I'm planning to give this new series a shot. It'll be my dose of summer fun and fluff!

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

September 13

Adapted from Goodreads: Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all slaves, but Cora is an outcast even among her fellow Africans, and she is coming into womanhood; even greater pain awaits. Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her of the Underground Railroad and they plot their escape. Whitehead brilliantly recreates the unique terrors of black life in pre-Civil War America. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage, and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

Why I'm looking forward to it: Colson Whitehead is another new-to-me author, but I've heard great things about this book from bloggers who've read ARCs. Cora sounds like a fascinating main character and I'm intrigued to learn her story and follow her on her journey.

Illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling and Jim Klay

October 4

Why I'm looking forward to it: Harry Potter + hundreds of gorgeous illustrations. Enough said!

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

October 4

Adapted from Goodreads: Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action, life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office -- but not Eleanor -- that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family secret. "Today Will Be Different" is a hilarious, heart-filled story about reinvention, sisterhood, and how sometimes it takes facing up to our former selves to truly begin living.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I loved "Where'd You Go, Bernadette," and it managed to bring a smile to my face during a tough time, so I was already committed to reading whatever Maria Semple released next. I'm excited about this story; it's sounds like it'll have the same mixture of quirk and poignancy as "Bernadette."

A Terrible Beauty (Lady Emily #11) by Tasha Alexander

October 11

Adapted from Goodreads: Lady Emily travels to Greece where a ghost from her past returns to haunt her amid the ruins. Lady Emily retreats to her villa on the island of Santorini for a brief respite from London. But when she arrives, the housekeeper informs her that the master of the house has returned -- Emily’s first husband who died a decade earlier...

Why I'm looking forward to it: Tasha Alexander's Lady Emily books make up my favorite cozy-ish mystery series, and one of the only ones I actually manage to keep up with. Each installment is a new adventure, and I'm super excited that this one will take readers back to Santorini! After reading a Lady Emily novel set there years ago, I added a trip to Santorini to my bucket list.

The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick

October 11

Adapted from Goodreads: Róisín and François are immediately drawn to each other when they meet at a remote research base on the frozen ice sheets of Antarctica. At first glance, the pair could not be more different. Older by a few years, Róisín, a daughter of Ireland and a peripatetic astronomer, joins the science team to observe the fracturing of a comet overhead. François, the base’s chef, has just left his birthplace in Bayeux, France, for only the second time in his life. Yet devastating tragedy and the longing for a fresh start, which they share, as well as an indelible yet unknown bond that stretches back centuries, connect them to each other. Helen Sedgwick carefully unfolds their surprisingly intertwined paths, moving forward and back through time to reveal how these lovers’ destinies have long been tied to one other by the skies -- the arrival of comets great and small.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I have a bit of an obsession with Antarctica. And I just have a feeling this is going to be a beautiful, lyrical tale that I can't put down.

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

October 18

Adapted from Goodreads: A vivid and mesmerizing novel about the extraordinary woman who married and worked with one of the greatest scientists in history. What secrets may have lurked in the shadows of Albert Einstein’s fame? His first wife, Mileva "Mitza" Marić, was more than the devoted mother of their three children -- she was also a brilliant physicist in her own right, and her contributions to the special theory of relativity have been hotly debated for more than a century.

Why I'm looking forward to it: I love novels that teach me about real people. I had never given the first though to any spouse Albert Einstein may have had, but it sounds like -- as in many cases -- there was a strong woman providing support (and maybe more?) far out of the spotlight. (I just got approved for and advance-read copy from NetGalley -- yay!)

Paris For One & Other Stories by Jojo Moyes
November 18

Adapted from Goodreads: Nell is 26 and has never been to Paris. She’s never even been on a weekend away -- to anywhere, and certainly not with her boyfriend. Everyone knows traveling abroad isn’t really her thing. But when Nell’s boyfriend fails to show up for their romantic mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone -- including herself -- wrong. Alone and in Paris, Nell uncovers a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid. Adventurous, funny, and charming, "Paris for One" is vintage Moyes -- as are the eight stories that round out the collection. 

Why I'm looking forward to it: I'm working my way through all of Jojo Moyes' books and this one sounds really cute. I seldom read short stories and always say I want to give them a try, so here's a perfect opportunity!